Artist Database

HAHN, Sylvia

Born

Toronto, Ontario, 1911

Died

Whitby, Ontario, 2001

Biography synopsis

The daughter of artist and teacher Gustav Hahn, this versatile artist was skilled in metal work, handicrafts, drawing, wood engraving, and painting. Upon graduating from the Ontario College of Art (1929-1932), she was awarded a Governor General's Medal for achievement. In 1934, she joined the staff of the Royal Ontario Museum, to which institution she dedicated almost her entire artistic career. As an employee in the Display Department, Hahn completed a number of creative projects, including identification drawings for the museum's catalogue, 11 murals for the department itself (1935-46), models of jewels in the museum's collection (which were sold in the gift shop), a reproduction of a mural originally on the walls of an Etruscan tomb (for which she attempted to capture the original colours before air and moisture faded them), and the decoration of the Athens Gallery (including detail work on a model of the Acropolis). In addition to her work at the museum, Hahn received commissions for altarpieces from a number of Ontario churches, including The Chapel of The Society of St. John the Evangelist in Bracebridge, The Lady Chapel and The Chapel of the Holy Child St. Mary Magdalene in Toronto, the R.C.A.F. Chapel in Aylmer, and the Victoria College Chapel at the University of Toronto. She also completed stone sculpture for St. Augustine of Canterbury Church, and much of the decoration of St. Philip's Church, both in Toronto. Smaller projects include illustrations (engravings) for "The Forehead's Lyre," a book of Swedish poems, and "A Naturalist's Guide to Ontario." In 1934, Hahn began exhibiting with the Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers (of which she was elected a member in 1936). Like her father, Hahn also taught, becoming an instructor in metal work for the University of Toronto's Occupational Therapy Course, and in general handicrafts at the Northern Vocational School. She is represented in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.